Apparatus and article of manufacture



Dec. 28, 1965 E. P. HARRIS ET AL 3,225,641

APPARATUS AND ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE Original Filed June 22. 1961INVENTORfi EDWARD R HARP-LS BY CLETU5 L. NOORMAN THEIR ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent G 3,225,641 APPARATUS AND ARTlCLE OF MANUFACTURE Edward P.Harris, Dayton, and Cletus L. Moor-man, Trotwood, @hio, assignors toGeneral Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of DelawareOriginal application June 22, 1961, Ser. No. 126,419, now Patent No.3,199,184, dated Aug. 10, 1955. Divided and this application Feb. 12,1965, Ser. No. 432,322 1 Claim. (Cl. 85-5) This is a division ofco-pending parent application S.N. 126,419-Harris et :al. filed June 22,1961, now Patent 3,l99,l84-'Harris et al. issued August 10, 1965 as wellas a related earlier division thereof identified as co-pendingapplication S.N. 324,969-Harris et al. filed November 20, 1963, nowPatent 3,199,182-Harris et al. issued August 10, 1965.

This invention relates to assembly of elastomeric sealing strip meansand fastening devices to each other.

An object of this invention is to provide a new and improved elastomericsealing strip and mounting device assembly as a product for facilitatinginstallation thereof subsequently on motor vehicles mass produced wherea minimum of production control and inspection are desirable to savetime and reduce cost of labor and material.

Another object of this invention is to provide a fastening device havinga stem-portion integral centrally with a head portion provided with asemi-arcuate partial spiral cut-out slot to facilitate fitting of thehead portion to a cavity of a sealing strip of elastomeric materiallaterally apertured to a size hole substantially of a diameter equal tothat of the stem portion which can be held by a hollowended plunger foraxially twisting by the plunger while the spiral slot permits threadingof the head portion through the hole into the cavity of the sealingstrip.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings wherein preferred embodiments of the present invention areclearly shown.

In the drawings:

FIGURES l and 2 illustrate side and end views, respectively of afastening device which can be fitted to an elastomeric sealing strip byplunger twisting for threading of a head portion of the fastening devicethrough a sealing strip hole into a cavity extending longitudinallyalong one side of the sealing strip.

It is to be understood that the sealing strip of elastomeric materialcan have a predetermined length corresponding to peripheral distance,for example, around a motor vehicle door where the sealing strip meansis to be located as a weather seal. The sealing strip means can bebelt-like or longitudinal in configuration depending upon the final useto be made thereof. In any event, the sealing strip means as designatedby a reference S includes a longitudinally extending cavity C andapertures or holes A are formed extending laterally therefrom. Forfurther disclosure as to the sealing strip per se reference can be madeto an application S.N. 71,463 filed November 25, '1960, now Patent3,110,938Beck et al. issued November 19, 1963, and belonging to theassignee of the present invention. The sealing strip can be extruded ormolded to have a preformed shape subject to mounting adjacent to avehicle door, for example, which can have an irregular configuration. Inview of such irregular configuration it is necessary to providefastening means in predetermined locations for holding the sealing stripin engagement with a surface of the door. Sometimes a series of three orfour mounting panel apertures are provided closely adjacent to eachother such that a relatively sharp bend can be made to 3,225,641Patented Dec. 28, 1965 fit a sealing strip relative to a door contourand the like. At other times it is necessary to have suitable fasteningdevices spaced relatively farther apart and a need exists for fittingsuch fastening devices to sealing strips of this type.

The elastomeric sealing strip can be subjected to feeding throughstations in a continuous belt-like fashion or can be fed longitudinallyin strips of predetermined length to fit a particular vehicle door. Itis possible to program operation of the drilling and insertingmechanisms to correspond with required location of fastening devices forvarious door structures on differing motor vehicles. Thus basically thesame apparatus can be used to effect placement of fastening devices instandardized sealing strips but in differing locations as required for aparticular door structure. For example, on some motor vehicles the frontdoor had corners corresponding to contour of a wrap-around windshieldand in acute angular positions it is necessary to provide fasteningdevices, such as represented by 194 in FIGURES l and 2, in closerrelationship to each other so as to avoid buckling and lack of propersealing relative to such acute angles in certain corners. Also it is tobe noted that the sealing strip could be moved at a continuous rate andthat the drilling and inserting mechanisms could be movable therewith inpredetermined locations for a predetermined length of time during whichthe drilling as well as the inserting operations occur. A matter ofrelative movement during the drilling and inserting steps can result ina saving of time so far as the inserting operation is concerned. It isto be understood that a suitable delay means can be used to hold thesealing strip in either of the two predetermined stations for apredetermined length of time during which either the drilling step orthe inserting operation can occur.

It would be possible to have the inserting mechanism operable upon arotatable drum having a plurality of feeder tracks or fixtures locatedtherein such that the drum could be indexed around an arcuate path andthe drilling and inserting operations could occur progressively incertain stations while sealing strips of elastomeric material can bemanually fitted into the feeding fixtures at other stations. Thus theprocedure of drilling and inserting the fastening devices could bespeeded considerably where high volume production is required. It is tobe noted that the procedure and apparatus in accordance with the presentinvention requires only a minimum of manual handling of either fasteningdevices or sealing strips of elastomeric material and the automatedoperation of the steps of the procedure permit a minimum of productioncontrol and inspection which are desirable to save time and reduce costof labor and material.

After the steps of feeding the elastomeric sealing strip along apredetermined path and aperturing the sealing strip in predeterminedlocations so as to provide access to a longitudinally extending cavitytherein, there is a dilating or expansion of the elastomeric sealingstrip in a location where the aperturing occurred at a previous stationand a driving means such as 54 can effect operation of components forinserting a plastic nail-like fastening device with a head portionthereof to fit into the cavity of the sealing strip during the dilatingor expanding of the elastomeric material of the sealing strip. Holdingof a stem portion of the fastening device terminates upon retraction ofthe driver or plunger thus releasing the plastic fastening device toremain with the head portion thereof in the cavity of the elastomericsealing str1p.

FIGURE 1 illustrates a fastening device indicated generally by numeral195 and having a head portion 195 integral with .a stem portion 196. Thestem portion includes ring means and a double tapered pilot end similarto that described in the application S.N. 118,918 Moorman now Patent3,139,784Moorman issued July 7, 1964 as belonging to the assignee of thepresent invention. However, the head portion 195 is modified to have ahelical slot 198 cut out as a semi-arcuate partial spiral to facilitatefitting of the head portion to a cavity of the sealing strip such as Sof elastomeric material laterally apertured to a size hole substantiallyof a diameter equal to that of the stern portion. An apex-like endadjacent to the slot 198 and identified by reference numeral 199 inFIGURES l and 2 can establish engagement of the head portion relative toelastomeric material surrounding the aperture such as A in a sealingstrip S. An ar-cuate configuration or gradual tapering from the apex 199results in lateral expanding or dilating of the elastomeric material soas to permit the head portion 195 to be threaded through the aperture Aand into the cavity C. The turning or twisting necessary for suchthreading action can be transmitted from a hollow end 69 of a plungersuch as 54 when the plunger is subjected to a rotation or twist aboutits longitudinal axis once the plunger has been lowered while the hollowend 69 engages the stern portion 196 of the fastening device 194.

Once the fastening devices have been inserted relative to an elastomericsealing strip it is possible to use a suitable ball bearing roller andthe like to cause unloading of the sealing strip with the fasteningdevices assembled thereto and the following amplified description ofadded features of the fastening device per se is provided from Patent3,l39,784-Moorman noted earlier. A fastening device has a nail like bodyof plastic material such as molded polyethylene, Delrin or acetal resinwhich is a highly crystalline and stable form of polymerizedformaldehyde, nylon or long chain synthetic polyamide having recurringamide groups, Teflon or polytetrafluoroethylene as well as relativelystiffer though somewhat resilient phenolic materials and the like. Eachshank-like stem portion has a pilot-like free end purposely with aconical and severally tapered first surface which flares laterallyoutwardly to a diameter that is substantially less than diameter of amounting-panel aperture and which adjoins a second slightly-taperedannular surface which flares laterally outwardly from a diameterslightly less than diameter of the aperture to a diameter slightlygreater than diameter of the aperture having a peripheral surface withrough edges snugly engaged by concentric locking ring means in anintermediate location along the stem portion between the double taperedfree end thereof and opposite to the integral head portion. Theconcentric locking ring means also having a diameter slightly greaterthan that of the mounting-panel aperture so as to fit snugly thereinthough avoiding possible damage to the concentric locking ring meansbyprotective guiding and straightening for axial fit to the aperture asthe latter is first encountered by the first and second tapered surfacesadjoining each other.

The pilot-like free end of the stem portion purposely has a conical andseverly tapered first surface which flares laterally outwardly in aslope approaching substantially 45 to terminate in an annular juncturewith an adjoining second and only slightly tapered annular surface. Thefastening device 194 is adapted for use in positioning and mounting ofan elastomeric sealing strip similar to a type disclosed in US. Patent2,720,685-Harris, belonging to the assignee of the present invention.During mass pro- :luction of motor vehicles there is need for reliablemounting of elastorneric sealing strips peripherally along junc- :uresbetween a door or deck lid of an automotive vehicle. Various metalfastenings have been tried and used and lifliculty is encountered duringpositioning of such fas- :ening means to correspond with apertures orrough- :dged holes in a sheet metal mounting panel. Such elasiomericsealing strip means can also be provided on lomestic appliances such asaround a refrigerator door and the like and an inexpensive thoughaccurate and reliable fastening device which can be quickly manipulatedand positioned for mounting such a sealing strip is provided inaccordance with the present invention.

The fastening device 194 has a nail-like body of plastic material whichis moldable, resilient and slightly deformable under ordinarytemperature conditions. For example, the plastic material of thefastening device 194 can be polyethylene as well as Delrin or acetalresin which is a highly crystalline and stable form of polymerizedformaldehyde commercially available and having metal-like mechanicalproperties including .a high degree of strength and rigidity as well asconsiderable dimensional stability, tensile and flexural strength.Delrin retains resilience and toughness as well as these other desirableproperties even under varying conditions of ternperature, humidity,stress and the like. Delrin can be injection molded to close toleranceswhich contribute to success of the fastening device 194 in accordancewith the present invention including structural features pointed outmore clearly in the following description. It is to be noted that othersuitable plastic materials can be used including Teflon orpolytetrafluoroethylene as well as relatively stiffer though somewhatresilient phenolic materials and the like.

Details of the sealing strip S can also be seen in a disclosure of anapplication S.N. 126,419-Harris et al., filed concurrently herewith nowPatent 3,199,184Harris et 'al. issued August 10, 1965 and belonging tothe assignee of the present invention.

Due to flexibility and resilience of the sealing strip, there issometimes a misalignment of fastening means relative to apertures in amounting panel. The multitapered end shapeof the stern portion effectsgeneral centering and guiding into an accurate prepositioning of thefastening device 194. The double tapered surfacing immediately adjacentto the free end of the stem portion can be considered particularlyimportant since these surfaces subsequently serve as a pilot-likestructure to assure proper positioning, insertion and locking of theplastic nail-like fastening device 194 relative to an apertured panel.The ring or rib means along the radially outer edges thereof have adiameter substantially equal to the diameter of the secondary taperedsurfacing at a location substantially intermediate the stem portion andadjacent to the first or lower one of a series of concentric and axiallyspaced ring means.

The elastomeric material of the strip is dilated or expanded by forcingapart the elastomeric material around an aperture or hole extendinglaterally from a cavity in the sealing strip. The aperture or hole has adiameter substantially equal to that of the shank-like stem portions andthe outer annular edges of the concentric locking ring means fit snuglyinto tight engagement with a peripheral surface defining the aperture ina mounting panel.

While the embodiments of the present invention as herein disclosedconstitute preferred forms, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows:

On a fastening device of plastic material having a head and an integralstem portion with a multi-t-apered end shape, said stem portionincluding plural abutment means projecting laterally outwardly thereonto engage a mounting panel, and elastomeric Weatherstrip means havinglateral access openings undercut into cavity locations into which saidhead portion fits with the stern portion projecting outwardly through apredetermined access opening, the improvement which comprises said headportion being annular and having a flat undersurface, said head havingan apex with the uppersurface of said head being downwardly andoutwardly inclined from the apex to the periphery of said head, saidapex being smaller than said lateral access opening, and a semiarcuatepartial spiral helical slot extending from said 5 upper surface to saidundersurface and in one quadrant thereof, said partial spiral helicalslot having a location that tapers laterally outwardly from said apex sothat said slot and apex together resiliently dilate individual accessopening of limited size in the elastomeric weatherstrip means so as topenmit said head portion to be threaded through the access openingduring a turning and twisting movement transmitted thereto through saidstem portion, said stem portion that projects outwardly through theaccess opening having a diameter substantially equal to the diameter ofsaid lateral access opening and having a longitudinal axis about whichsaid head portion is turned as said apex engages said slot toresiliently dilate said Weatherstrip opening.

References Qited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,062,635 5/1913Clements 859 1,398,083 11/1921 Tibbetts 859 1,401,584 12/1921 Cizek 8592,927,497 3/ 1960 *Rapata 855 11/1963 Beck et a1.

EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examiner.

